Eucharist Junkie

The Spirit did not disappoint. Were there observable tongues of fire or speaking in foreign languages? No, but our worship was particularly Spirit-filled, and whether plausibly-deniable things happen, or whether the Spirit is working more interiorly, how could we capture the experience in words, either way? The choir chanted the Veni Sancte Spiritus sequence, and I was thankful to have spent time chewing on the Latin and getting the tune in my head so I could sing wholeheartedly and know what I was even saying. We collaborate with the Spirit when we follow due diligence in preparation.    And we finally nailed Regina Caeli; a unity of jubilant voices, clean entrances, and flute and violin to boot! Rejoicing with Mary at the resurrection of her son! Since when was I able to enter into a song of beauty and Joy?! Since Easter!   But Eucharist. I was taken up in God’s transcendence and imminence, perfection and mercy; the all-powerful, all-benevolent creator of the unive...

Last Monday was my husband’s and my last night of RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults: Catholic membership classes, as it were). These have been one of the high points of my weeks, these last 9 months, the best sort of date night with my husband. I’ve shed more tears of joy and beauty in that class than I could’ve ever anticipated. This, plus Ascension having just passed. My husband had taken Thursday off before we knew Ascension was transferred to Sunday in our diocese, so we joined some friends over in Lapeer for our first Tridentine Latin Mass, during which they Extinguished the Paschal Candle. Bye, RCIA. Bye, Jesus. But the homily on Thursday proposed that Christ’s Ascension established our hope for our mortal bodies also being taken up into union with God forever; where the Head goes, the Body follows. The Incarnation was God Made Flesh here on Earth, and in the Ascension, Jesus goes to prepare a place for us, as a bridegroom builds his beloved a home where ...